Pet fountains that create flowing water for attracting pets are well known and there have been a number of commercially successful pet fountains. Exemplary pet fountains generally include a spout for providing a continuous flow of water from a reservoir to a container such that the pet is able to drink either directly from the flowing water stream or from the container. The stream of flowing water is formed as water flows from an elevated spout down into the lower positioned container.
Electronic pumps are commonly used to recirculate water within the pet fountain, by means of drawing water from the container and pushing the water through the spout. The movement of the water, generated by the pump, also allows for the water to pass through an internal filter to remove contaminants from the water as it is recirculated through the fountain.
One of the drawbacks of conventional pet fountains, such as those described above, is that they limit water movement. To allow a pet easy access to the flowing water, the outer surface of the pet fountain, along which the water travels, is not covered. As a result, the force with which the water exits the spout must be limited to prevent water overflowing onto or splashing the area surrounding the pet fountain. However, this limitation on the force of discharged water decreases the sound and movement of the flowing water, which is useful in attracting pets to the fountain.
As a result, efforts have been made to design and manufacture pet fountains with an outer surface that decreases water overflow and splashing while simultaneously maximizing water movement and sound. For example, one proposed pet fountain is composed of a basin for holding a volume of water and a cover that sits atop the basin. The cover has a recessed portion that forms a drinking bowl for holding a smaller volume of water which, in combination with the basin, provides two different water supplies from which a pet may drink. A pump is contained beneath the cover and is operative to draw water from the basin and pump it to the drinking bowl within the cover via an elevated stream. As the volume of water pumped to the cover exceeds the holding capacity of the drinking bowl, water begins to waterfall from the cover back into the basin creating both movement and sound.
While such pet fountain designs improve the movement of water along the outer surface of the fountain, they are still limited in that the water is kept in close proximity to the fountain's outer surface while it flows into the basin. Thus there is need for an apparatus which elevates the water above the discharge spout, to increase the water's movement and sound to attract a pet, while preventing undesirable splashing or overflow in the area around the pet fountain.